Elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are taking place on November 2, 2021. Democrats hold 55 seats and Republicans hold 45 seats. In 2019, Democrats gained control of the chamber from Republicans by picking up six seats when Republicans had held a 51-49 majority. As a result, 2021 is the first election cycle since 1999 with Democrats defending a majority in the chamber.
In the 2021 election cycle, Democratic candidates have raised a combined $28.5 million to Republicans’ $10.9 million. In the 2019 cycle, Democratic candidates raised $15.8 million at this point while Republicans raised $13.1 million. In this article, we’ll look at select campaign finance data points and how they compare to the 2019 election cycle.
Total money raised
Between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021, Democratic candidates have raised 57 percent more money than in the previous election cycle, while Republican candidates have raised 19 percent less money. The chart below compares the total funds raised by candidates of each political party through Aug. 31 of each election cycle in 2021 and 2019.
Five districts with the most fundraising
In the 2021 election cycle, the five districts with the most fundraising exceeded $1 million each. In the 2019 election cycle, only two districts had fundraising totaling more than $1 million at this point in time.
In the 2021 election cycle, two candidates have raised more than $2 million each. In the 2019 election cycle, no candidate had raised more than $1.2 million at this point in time.
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Virginia candidate political action committees (candidate PACs) submitted to the Virginia Department of Elections. It includes fundraising activity between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021, as well as Jan. 1, 2018, and Aug. 31, 2019. Candidate PACs represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate PACs.
West Virginia enacted new congressional districts on Oct. 22, 2021, when Gov. Jim Justice (R) signed a proposal approved by the House of Delegates and Senate into law. This map will take effect for West Virginia’s 2022 congressional elections.
On Sept. 30, 2021, the House and Senate Redistricting Committees released 18 congressional district map proposals. On Oct. 13, the West Virginia Senate passed a map proposed by Sen. Charles S. Trump IV in a 30-2 vote, which the House then approved on Oct. 14 in an 84-12 vote.
“This bill puts the state into two districts, which are compact and have low drive times,” said Del. Gary Howell (R). State Sen. Trump said, “Compactness is quite a challenge when you’re trying to draw any kind of district. The two West Virginia panhandles render the state uncompact. I believe this bill meets the constitutional requirements of both the United States constitution and the West Virginia constitution. I think it’s a good map.”
As of Oct. 25, five states have adopted new congressional maps, one state’s congressional map is awaiting approval by the state supreme court, six states were apportioned one congressional district (so no congressional redistricting is required), and 38 states have not yet adopted new congressional maps.
Congressional redistricting has been completed for 28 of the 435 seats (6.4%) in the U.S. House of Representatives.
West Virginia enacted new state legislative districts on Oct. 22, 2021, when Gov. Jim Justice (R) signed map proposals approved by both legislative chambers into law. The maps will take effect for West Virginia’s 2022 state legislative elections.
On Sept. 30, 2021, the House Redistricting Committee released a single-member district map proposal for the West Virginia House of Delegates. The proposal passed the House on Oct. 13 in a 79-20 vote and passed the Senate on Oct. 18 in a 28-5 vote.
On Oct. 5, the Senate Redistricting Committee released five map proposals for West Virginia’s State Senate districts. On Oct. 11, 2021, the Senate Redistricting Committee voted to recommend a senate map proposed by Sen. Charles S. Trump IV (R) to the full Senate. The Senate approved a map that combined aspects of previous proposals in a 31-2 vote on October 19. The Hosue approved the map 72-19.
“The Joint Committee on Redistricting worked very hard all summer and fall to craft a plan that will give every West Virginian an equal voice in the House of Delegates. For the first time in decades, West Virginia will have 100 single-member House districts,” said House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R) of the House map. Del. Mike Pushkin (D) said, “What we have before us is a gerrymandered mess. If your goal is to protect political power well into the future, it was done quite well.”
On the Senate map, Sen. Charles S. Trump IV (R) said, “This amendment I believe reconciles and harmonizes some of the issues that were points of contention,” Trump said in a statement. “This is the product of conversations and compromises over a long period of time by a great number of people.” “There is a faction within the Republican Party that is worried about their reelection when they shouldn’t be. They should worry about how the state works and how to make it work,” said Sen. Mike Romano (D).
As of Oct. 25, 2021, seven states have adopted new state legislative maps, one state’s legislative map is awaiting approval by the state supreme court, one state enacted new state legislative maps based on Census estimates which will be revised in an upcoming special session, and 41 states have not yet adopted new state legislative maps.
Nationwide, legislative redistricting has been completed for 273 of 1,972 state Senate seats (13.8%) and 628 of 5,411 state House seats (11.6%).
Elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are taking place on November 2, 2021. Democrats hold 55 seats and Republicans hold 45 seats. This is the first election cycle since 1999 with Democrats defending a majority in the chamber.
Democratic target districts
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced a list of 22 target districts this election cycle. Those candidates combined raised a total of $10.5 million. The table below shows the Democratic candidate in each target district along with the 2019 margin of victory in that district.
The Republican State Leadership Committee announced a list of 13 target districts this election cycle. Those candidates combined raised a total of $3.1 million. The table below shows the Republican candidate in each target district along with the 2019 margin of victory in that district.
On average, Democratic candidates outraised Republicans in targeted districts
In the districts that national groups have identified as critical elections for their respective parties, Democratic candidates raised twice as much on average as their Republican counterparts. Democratic candidates raised an average of $477,272 in each race targeted by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. Republicans raised an average of $238,461 per district targeted by the Republican State Leadership Committee.
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Virginia candidate political action committees (candidate PACs) submitted to the Virginia Department of Elections. It includes fundraising activity between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021. Candidate PACs represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate PACs.
A special election primary is being held on Nov. 2 for the 4th Essex District of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Darcyll Dale and Jamie Zahlaway Belsito are running in the Democratic primary. Lisa-Marie Cashman and Robert Snow are competing for the Republican nomination. The general election will take place on Nov. 30, and the winner will serve until January 2023.
The seat became vacant on Sept. 15 when Bradford Hill (R) resigned after being appointed to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Hill had represented the district since 1999.
Heading into the special election, Democrats have a 129-29 majority in the Massachusetts House with one independent member and one vacancy. Massachusetts has a divided government, and no political party holds a state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers.
As of October, 64 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2021 in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. Massachusetts held 42 state legislative special elections from 2011 to 2020.
At least nine states progressed in either proposing or advancing new congressional and state legislative district maps as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle between Oct. 13 and Oct. 20, 2021.
Proposed
Arizona: The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission released a new series of state legislative and congressional maps between Oct. 15 and Oct. 19. The commission released its first series of map drafts on Oct. 5. These maps cover the state’s congressional and state legislative districts. Since House and Senate districts use the same lines, the Commissions released one state legislative map as part of each series.
Hawaii: The Hawaii Reapportionment Commission’s Technical Committee Permitted Interaction Group presented map proposals for the state’s House and Senate districts to the commission on Oct. 14. The maps were presented separately for the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. Only a draft House map for Kauai was presented since the island has a single state Senate district.
Illinois: On Oct. 15, state legislative Democrats released their first congressional map proposal. Due to population decline, the state was apportioned 17 districts following the 2020 census, a decrease from 18 following the 2010 census.
Commentary surrounding the proposal has centered on implications in national politics. During the 2010 cycle, Republicans controlled the state’s redistricting process. Today, Democrats hold a trifecta in the state. The Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson wrote, “Illinois Democrats have been under pressure from interests including the party’s national campaign committee to maximize opportunities for Democratic seats.”
South Carolina: On Oct. 16, the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee released a series of state Senate map plans proposed and submitted to the committee by outside organizations. Groups who submitted plans include the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, and several county Democratic parties.
Ultimately, the state legislature will decide on the final maps. A special session was initially scheduled to begin on Oct. 12, but it was later canceled in favor of a later start date, which has not yet been set. The ACLU and the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the state due to the delay.
Delaware: Democrats and Republicans in the state House released proposed maps for the state’s House districts on Oct. 13 and Oct. 15, respectively. Senate Democrats previously released a draft map proposal for the state’s Senate districts on Oct. 11.
Since Delaware was apportioned a single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, there will be no congressional redistricting in the state in 2020.
Hawaii: On Oct. 14, the Hawaii Reapportionment Commission voted to approve a map of the state’s two congressional districts. The commission was presented with two maps: one that would have left the existing district lines in place and an alternate proposal. The commission voted in favor of the alternate, which takes a piece of the 1st Congressional District along Oahu’s western coast and moves it into the 2nd Congressional District, which includes the northern portion of Oahu and the rest of the state.
The approved plan will now be made available for public comment with hard copies distributed to the state’s public libraries and election offices.
The commission has until Jan. 8, 2022, to release a public notice of its final proposed map plans, which must be filed by Feb. 27, 2022.
New Mexico: The New Mexico Citizen Redistricting Committee voted to recommend three congressional map proposals to the state legislature on Oct. 15. This is the first redistricting cycle featuring the Citizen Redistricting Committee, an advisory board signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Apr. 6, 2021.
The state legislature remains in control of the redistricting process, meaning proposals recommended by the Citizen Redistricting Committee are nonbinding. Instead, these proposals serve as the starting point for the legislature’s redistricting process.
Texas: The state House and Senate approved state legislative district maps for each other’s chambers on Oct. 15, sending them to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott (R). On Oct. 18, the legislature also approved a finalized version of the state’s congressional districts. Due to population growth, Texas gained two additional districts. Abbot may now either approve or veto the proposed maps.
Two lawsuits were filed against the proposed maps on Oct. 18. One, filed by a Texas inmate, said his assignment to a congressional district where he does not live violates his right to equal representation. Another, filed by a group of Latino civil rights organizations, said the maps diminished the voting power of Latino voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Learn more about both lawsuits here.
Vermont: On Oct. 15, the Vermont Legislative Apportionment Board (LAB) voted 4-3 to approve a map proposal for the state’s House districts. The proposal included 150 single-member districts, meaning an individual legislator would represent each.
This differs from the House’s current structure, which includes a mixture of single- and multi-member districts. In multi-member districts, voters elect more than one legislator to the chamber. The state Senate, which has not had any maps approved to date, uses single-member districts exclusively.
The approved proposals will now be distributed to local Boards of Civil Authority, who will have until Nov. 15 to provide feedback. After that, the LAB can consider comments and send a final map to the state legislature for approval.
Since Vermont was apportioned a single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, there will be no congressional redistricting in the state in 2020.
West Virginia: Proposed plans for West Virginia’s state Senate and congressional district lines advanced through the legislature over the past week. On Oct. 14, the state House voted to approve a congressional map plan proposed by the Joint Committee on Redistricting Chairman Sen. Charles Trump (R). This vote came one day after the Senate approved the plan on Oct. 13. The congressional map plan—which delineates the state’s two congressional districts, a decrease from three due to population decline—now heads to Gov. Jim Justice (R) for final approval.
On Oct. 19, the Senate also approved a proposed map of the state’s Senate districts. This proposal now advances to the state House.
No new maps were enacted between Oct. 13 and Oct. 20.
As of Oct. 20, four states—Indiana, Maine, Nebraska, and Oregon—had enacted new congressional district maps. Those four states plus Ohio had also enacted new state legislative maps. Illinois also enacted new state legislative maps, but, in an Oct. 19 ruling, a federal court took control of the process and ordered interested parties to submit revisions to the enacted maps with a Nov. 8 deadline.
Elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are taking place on November 2, 2021. Democrats hold 55 seats and Republicans hold 45 seats. This is the first election cycle since 1999 with Democrats defending a majority in the chamber.
Ballotpedia has identified 22 battleground races in these elections. Sixteen are in Democrat-held districts, and six are in Republican-held districts. Based on analysis of these districts’ electoral histories, these races have the potential to be more competitive than other races and could possibly lead to shifts in a chamber’s partisan balance.
To determine these battleground races, Ballotpedia looked for races that fit one or more of the four factors listed below:
The 2019 winner received less than 55 percent of the vote.
The presidential candidate who won the district in 2020 is of a different party than the 2019 winner in the district, and the 2019 winner won by a margin of 10 percentage points or less.
The presidential candidate who won the district in 2020 is of a different party than the 2019 winner in the district, and the incumbent is not on the ballot this year.
The presidential candidate who won the district in 2020 is of a different party than the 2019 winner in the district, and that presidential candidate won the district by a margin of 20 percentage points or more.
Top five individual donors by party
Virginia House candidate political action committees (PACs) in these districts raised a total of $14.7 million from Jan. 1, 2020, through Aug. 31, 2021. Democratic House candidate PACs raised $9.9 million, while Republican House candidate PACs raised $4.8 million.
The five individual donors who gave the most money to battleground race candidates of a single political party are shown below.
Top five individual donors to Democratic battleground candidates:
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Virginia candidate political action committees (candidate PACs) submitted to the Virginia Department of Elections. It includes fundraising activity between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021. Candidate PACs represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate PACs.
On Oct. 18, the Texas State Legislature voted to refer to the ballot a constitutional amendment that would increase the homestead exemption for school district property taxes from $25,000 to $40,000. Voters will decide the measure on the May 2022 ballot. It would take effect for the 2022 tax year. The Legislative Budget Board estimated that the increase would cost the state $355 million in fiscal year 2023.
The amendment was filed as Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR 2) on Oct. 18, the last day of the legislature’s third special session this year. It was approved by both chambers unanimously. The enabling legislation, Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), also received final approval on the last day of the session.
State Senator Paul Bettencourt (R), the author of the amendment, said, “People see the need for property tax relief, and Texans are going to cry out for that continuously. This is a great way to bring that home to all of the taxpayers of Texas.”
Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Chris Turner (D) said, “Texas House Democrats have been fighting for an increase in the homestead exemption for decades. While Republicans pushed for property tax rate cuts that largely benefit corporations, we have championed legislation that puts money directly into Texas homeowners’ pockets. Today, our longstanding efforts pay off under SJR 2. We are grateful our Republican colleagues have joined us to provide meaningful property tax relief to Texas homeowners.”
Texas voters last approved an increase to the homestead tax exemption in 2015 with the passage of Proposition 1. The amendment increased the exemption from $15,000 to $25,000. It was approved by a margin of 86.4% to 13.6%.
This was the second amendment the legislature referred to the ballot for the election on May 7, 2022. Texas voters will also decide on an amendment that would authorize the state legislature to reduce the limitation on total ad valorem taxes imposed on the homesteads of elderly or disabled residents for school maintenance and operations to reflect any statutory reduction from the preceding tax year. The two ballot measures are the first to be featured on an even-numbered year statewide ballot since 2014. Between 1985 and 2020, 10 ballot measures have appeared on even-numbered year Texas ballots compared to 251 ballot measures on odd-numbered year statewide ballots during that same period.
Maine state Rep. Kyle Bailey (D-27) resigned on Oct. 15, citing a new job opportunity. “Due to an exciting professional opportunity that has arisen recently, I am unable to complete my full term as state representative,” Bailey said in a statement.
Bailey was first elected to represent Maine’s 27th House District in 2020, defeating Roger Densmore (R), 59% to 41%.
If there is a vacancy in the Maine State Legislature, the governor must call for a special election. The political committees representing the vacant seat are responsible for setting all deadlines. The winner of the election will serve the remainder of Bailey’s two-year term, which was set to expire in December 2022.
So far in 2021, there have been 113 state legislative vacancies in 41 states. Two of those vacancies occurred in Maine.
